Letters to the Editor: Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012

Mr. John Tuckerman is our commissioner again and I would urge him to take a strong leadership position to repair the following “cracks” in our county:

1. The sheriff’s office is literally crumbling down while we experience more church and pharmacy break-ins. They need more help! The sheriff himself said, “The amount of help we have right now isn’t enough,” “I’m telling you we’ve got a problem and it’s getting worse,” and “We’re getting dispatched to a lot more serious stuff.” (Daily Telegram Sept. 12, 2012).

2. The draft budget proposal must be completely thrown out with new priorities put in place. You need to triage, stop the bleeding, and govern into the future.

3. How long are you going to carry on the Lenawee County Airport boondoggle? How many millions upon millions of taxpayer dollars will we spend defending lawsuits and appealing decisions before we get this thing under control? Grant money is still taxpayer money and we cannot afford more millage or state and federal taxes wasted!

4. You have to balance the budget and find ways to stop deficit spending from the reserve fund. The commission has been having budget woes for going on three years now. You are all in the same political party and always say how very well you get along. Well, it’s time to work together to show us that.

5. You need to have more transparency, better communication, evening meetings and an honest to goodness strategic planning process that is more involved than a short group-think session in the Human Services Committee.

I am more than willing to help you with any of these or other issues and to serve on any committee where you think I would serve well. If you include everyone in the process and make these improvements, Lenawee County will have a much brighter future. If not, you can depend on me running again in 2014. Citizenship is a responsibility that we must all bear together. We must all get involved, contact our representatives, take a stand and fight the good fight.

Thank you all so very much and may God bless America!

— The Rev. Paul Wayne Benjamin, Blissfield

Blessed beyond measure

To the editor,

My daughter, Sophie, has been diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called Mowat-Wilson Syndrome. With this comes a long list of other issues from congenital heart problems to Hirschsprung’s disease, seizures, and vision problems. Sophie is currently 19 months old and has undergone three heart surgeries and one intestinal surgery. My family and I want to thank many people for reaching out to us in our time of struggles. On Oct. 27, Lenawee Rec hosted a Rock-n-Bowl Benefit for Sophie. Her picture was all over, she became a local celebrity overnight! I do understand why, though, have you seen that face? There was also a bake sale, 50/50 raffle and a car wash for my daughter. There have been so many people that have come together to bless my family, and I feel this is the best way we can reach out and say thank you. Here is a short list of thank you’s we would like to publicly offer:

Page 2 of 3 - — The employees of Lenawee Stamping. If it wasn’t for you all, none of this would have taken place. You took it upon yourselves to love my family in ways that we never expected, or would have asked for. You gave selflessly to a child whom you have never met, whom will never be able to personally thank you. The sleepless days (third shifters rarely get enough sleep as it is) that some of you encountered just to secure donations that could be auctioned off at the benefit, the hours you spent away from your own families to focus on what needed to be done to make everything happen, I can’t even begin to show my gratitude! We thank you for giving your time, your energy, and your donations to help with medical expenses for Sophie!

— The people of Adrian and surrounding areas. I was overwhelmed when I stopped out at the car wash that took place at Midas for Sophie. As I was driving I could see over-sized signs of my beautiful daughter’s face on it that were used to draw you in. It was to my surprise to see all of those, and the people that came out. The day was perfect for a car wash, and although you could go and pay $6 someplace else, you chose to stop in and give to my family. The hour or so that I spent there with Sophie I had people come up to me and ask me about her. I could feel the genuine concern and care that people were showing us. We were offered prayers and support on top of the monetary donations you gave at the car wash. We left there humbled!

— The local and not-so-local businesses. I was taken aback when I saw the list of donations that covered both sides of an 8.5 by 11-inch sheet of paper. The majority of you don’t even know my family, may never know my family, and you didn’t even hesitate to donate. Whether it was time, money, services or a product, we can’t thank you enough!

Our family. We have had your support from day one when we were trying to figure out everything that was going on with Sophie. You were there to hear the good, the bad and the ugly. Through it all we have remained just as close, if not closer. You take each day as a blessing, you celebrate Sophie’s accomplishments as small as they may be and you love her just the same. We love you.

With all of the turmoil going on around the world, in our country, and even in our own city of Adrian, it does my heart good to see that there are still so many good people in this world who genuinely want to do right by others. All of you in so many different ways have left a lasting impression on our hearts. My husband was born and raised in Adrian. and we couldn’t be happier to raise our children in such a loving community!

Page 3 of 3 - — Dan, Ashley, Shane and Sophie Stegg

Editor’s note: A shortened version of this letter was printed to meet the Telegram’s 400-word limit. The full version is published here.